The world of the 20th century, if it is to come to life in any viability of health and vigor, must be to a significant degree an American century.
Henry R. LuceRead
Not much longer shall we have time for reading lessons of the past. An inexorable present calls us to the defense of a great future.
Interpretation
What this quote means
We must focus on the present and future rather than getting lost in past lessons.
Henry R. Luce emphasizes the importance of the present moment and the urgency it brings in shaping a promising future. While the past offers valuable lessons, it is the present that demands action and consideration for what lies ahead, urging us to defend the potential of our future against the challenges we face today.
Themes
PresentFutureActionPastDefenseUrgency
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a graduation speech to inspire students to focus on their future.
More from Henry R. Luce
All quotes βI became a journalist to come as close as possible to the heart of the world.
Henry R. LuceRead
There are men who can write poetry, and there are men who can read balance sheets. The men who can read balance sheets cannot write.
Henry R. LuceRead
Show me a man who claims he is objective and I'll show you a man with illusions.
Henry R. LuceRead
Business, more than any other occupation, is a continual dealing with the future; it is a continual calculation, an instinctive exercise in foresight.
Henry R. LuceRead
Similar quotes
The military mind always imagines that the next war will be on the same lines as the last. That has never been the case and never will be. One of the great factors on the next war will be aircraft obviously. The potentialities of aircraft attack on a large scale are almost incalculable.
Ferdinand FochRead
A man who has not passed through the inferno of his passions has never overcome them. As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being. Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.
Carl JungRead
Life seems to be a process of replacing one anxiety with another and substituting one desire for another--which is not to say that we should never strive to overcome any of our anxieties or fulfil any of our desires, but rather to suggest that we should perhaps build into our strivings an awareness of the way our goals promise us a respite and a resolution that they cannot, by definition, deliver.
Alain De BottonRead
We know that a man can read Goethe or Rilke in the evening, that he can play Bach and Schubert, and go to his day's work at Auschwitz in the morning.
George SteinerRead
Life is an aspiration. Its mission is to strive after perfection, which is self-realization. The ideal must not be lowered because of our weaknesses or imperfections.
Mahatma GandhiRead
If you want the truth rather than merely something to say, you will have a good deal less to say.
Thomas NagelRead